Stuck between mediocrity and excellence

Infomercials at 2 AM in a Starwood property on multiple occasions. Watching QVC at the wrong time. Starting and not finishing Awaken the Giant Within because I saw it on my parent's bookshelf.  Buying a box set of CDs that are supposed to change your life in 12 days and only listening to 5 days worth. It's all led to this. Unleash the Power Within over the next 4 days.  Life changing? We're about to find out.

A few definitions.  cult -  1. a system of religious veneration and devotion directed toward a particular figure or object. culture - 1. (third bullet) the customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social group. tribe - 1. a social division in a traditional society consisting of families or communities linked by social, economic, religious, or blood ties, with a common culture and dialect, typically having a recognized leader. I've worked for a couple of smaller professional services firms and have experienced a dichotomy. In the first company, the "culture" was very "cult-like." The office represented and revolved around a particular figure. In the second, the "culture" is ambiguous. In fact, I'm not even sure if one exists-- there might actually be specific pockets of culture.  There's the owner and then there's everyone else.  It follows the Les McKeown ...

The status quo is a formidable entity. The reason that you are not challenging it is because you have been trained not to.  When you join an organization, you figure out what the rules of the game are, play the game, and progress, collecting your salary as you pass GO . After all, that's what many years of education has trained you to do. The person that questions, "why," is the first to get shut down. Just look at how you treat a toddler when he or she asks "why" one too many times.  This all may sound a little Seth Godin , but the truth is that sometimes the status quo is not the status quo at all; it's a broken process or system that's been accepted. And instead of being praised for calling out how broken it is, you just ended up being put on a proverbial black list.  If you feel like something is wrong with the status quo, take a chance. Question it. Make a stink about it. Do something about it.  The worse thing you can do is nothing an...

There are organizations that sell you what they think they are.  There are some that sell you exactly what they are.  Which one are you a part of? Which ones do you think are more successful?  The organizations that sell what they think they are will end up falling short on delivery sooner or later. They end up falling short with employees - because the employees were sold a bill of goods during the recruiting process. They end up falling short  with clients - because they made a promise that they couldn't deliver. I've used this Tony Robbins quote before, "See it for what it is. But not worse than it is."  I am going to remix it a bit and say, "See your business for what it is, and not better than it is."  Don't call staff augmentation sexy. Call it what it is. Own it. Be a professional at it.  If you are going to be on fries at McDonald's, be the best d*mn fry guy that the place has ever seen.  The core of good business is tru...

An article in Inc. Magazine talks to the 7 Traits of True Leaders. We have progressed from command-and-control (roughly through the 1980s) to empower-and-track (the 1990s to mid-2000s) to connect-and-nurture (today). There are many leaders - Fortune 500 Director and above- that I've observed that are still living in the business world of the 1980's. There are rising leaders that I've seen (my age and younger) that are exercising an empower-and-track style.  There are not many, if any , that I have seen that connect-and-nurture -- and I think it's because the idea of showing one or more of the 7 traits, like vulnerability or humility , is counter to what they believe should be a trait to display. (Some are just not humans.) After all leaders ARE NOT supposed to demonstrate any type of weakness- and the 7 traits might as well be a "you're soft" list. What that translates to is a perception that a leader is apathetic --robot-like if you will-- and...

Today was the first time I've heard the term, "leadership bandwidth." Leadership bandwidth is when your company is growing rapidly and there aren't enough leaders within the organization to keep up with the growth. In order to manage the growth, as a founder of a company with this problem, you have two choices: Hire from the outside Develop leaders from within If you are part of a professional services company with an up or out model, leadership bandwidth is not really a problem.  You either become a leader or not. It's because the model forces apprenticeship and mentoring (as best that it can), lays out clearly what the criteria for progression is, and weeds out the perpetual operators from the future Partners in the Firm.  I think the root cause of a leadership bandwidth problem is that you can't turn operators and really, really good managers into entrepreneurs - in the context of professional services.  After all, the end game ...

The thought of starting a successful business is an attractive one.  In addition to reading books such as The E-Myth Revisited and listening to podcasts like Entrepreneur on Fire , I've started to observe successful business founders when I get a chance to be in their presence.  I know that success is a relative term. But if they've built a business that employees many people and that business has been sustainable for a long period of time- I call that pretty successful. Based on my observations, here are 3 common characteristics that I've observed. Entrepreneurs live in a reality distortion field: Steve Jobs made this famous I believe. The entrepreneurs that I've met live in a vision that reflects their reality and not the one that you and me as employees actually live in. They live in a world that you may not be familiar with and you either adapt to living in it, embrace it, or leave it. They have an extra gear: I'm fairly laid back by nature. To me ...

You should have a purpose driving everything that you do. When the boss asks you to do something, do you stop and ask him, "What's the purpose behind the request?"  If you are like me, the answer is probably no. You just do it.  But in the pit of your stomach you feel as though you are chasing flying purple unicorns.  Along the chain of command, someone needs to stop and ask, "What's the purpose or what's the objective behind this request." You may not agree with it, but at least you are clear on why you are doing it.  A clear and common purpose ensures that the right questions are asked and the right answers are provided.  A purpose based on speculation ends up turning into lost productivity, zapped energy, and a lack of motivation -- all of which could be stopped if someone just asked one question. 

Nobody remembers you for how many activities you participated in during a fiscal year.  People only remember the impact that you've made (both positive and negative). During an end of year review, change the mindset from: Number of activities to number of  actual  accomplishments Number of contributions to impact of work effort Number of successes to successes and  failures  True Firm development and contribution is not about the number of activities you can get involved in. You aren't running for class President or applying for a scholarship. It's also not about lengthening the resume.  True Firm development and contribution is leaving the environment a better place than it was before you showed up. Plus it's a lot more fun when you are doing something that is making a real impact. 

"For the same amount of money, we'll complete your study in half the time."  One of the strengths of big Firms is that they have seen and solved your business problem before.  One of the weaknesses of big Firms is that they have seen and solved your business problem before. When you get caught up in proposing the solution without diagnosing the problem, the perception is that you are not taking time to understand the client's environment. Listening to clients and understanding the environment they work in should factor into any proposal.  If it takes 2 weeks to get a badge at a client, chances are you won't finish your study in 4.  Be smart. Repurposing is definitely an advantage. Don't make it the only one. 

"If there was a problem, yo I'll solve it!" - Vanilla Ice If there is a problem out there, the odds are high that someone out there has a solution for it. You have a problem keeping your files synced among all of your devices?  See: Dropbox , SugarSync , Box , Google Drive , and SkyDrive (OneDrive) Need a project task management tool?  See: Jira , Asana , and Trello God forbid you need to book travel.  You not only have the individual mode of travel websites like Delta.com and Avis.com , but you also have Kayak.com , Expedia , tripadvisor , and Travelocity -- among many others. If you look hard enough, there is a high probability that someone has either solved your problem or is further ahead in solving it than you are.  The question becomes whether you are too lazy to look for it or you honestly believe that your business problem is truly unique. 

When I stopped being a road warrior after 12 years, there was an adjustment period-- stating it mildly.  Unlike many of my friends, I didn't get a raise when I got off the road, I took a significant pay cut.  Adjustment number 1.  I also realized that when I was home, I interrupted my wife's operational processes that she executed the four days of the week that I was away.  Adjustment number 2.  And finally, the work that I was doing was work that I had done when I first started in the consulting business.  Adjustment number 3.  The thing that I have to remember is that all of this occurred based on my choice to stop traveling and get out of a big Firm environment. You know how they say that 9 out of 10 startups fail?  I think that 5 out of 10 consultants that decide to get out of the business actually end up in a better place professionally and financially than they were. One could argue that 10 out of 10 ended up in a better place...

"When you are in hell, it's tough to see that there's a way out."  Every bad project comes to an end. Every challenging client will eventually go away.  Every bad career choice will become a thing of the past.  When you are in a bad situation, it's hard to see that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. But there always is. As the famous philosopher Clifford "T.I. / T.I.P." Harris said on Justin Bieber, "One day you'll look in the mirror and say, man -- something's got to change." The worst thing that you can do is fight "it." Fighting occurs through criticizing, working around the system, complaining about it-- everything that isn't focused on making yourself or the situation better. Look up Pressfield on  resistance for a more articulate definition. Am I being hypocritical? Yes I am. Because it's so easy to get caught up in all the drama. And I'm a victim of the resistance as much as the n...

When I asked a friend of mine what defines a leader, he said that leaders "inspire."  He is absolutely correct.  You can tell who is a leader just as much through a 5 minute conversation  as you can a 1 hour presentation.  Do you come out of a leader's presence inspired?   Absolutely.  Will you come out of a manager's presence inspired?  Not entirely.  So despite all the rhetoric around leadership and what "makes" for a good leader- just ask yourself if a person inspires you to get to a better place or  to do your work, no matter how menial the task is. That's how you know you are in the presence of true leadership. 

I know of a company that splits attrition into two categories: regrettable and non-regrettable.  "We are either sad that you are leaving or happy to see you go." Within the "sad you left" category there are sub-categories: what can we do for you to stay, or it's okay that you are leaving and you can come back if your other opportunity doesn't work out. If you have to split employees up into these kinds of categories something is severely broken. That something is the recruiting process.  If a company has standards that the recruiting process upholds, EVERY employee that leaves should be regrettable. If you have a good performance review process, there will naturally be people that will not perform. No hiring process is perfect.  But you hope that those people are the exceptions and not the rule. There have been a number of studies on the costs of turnover and it's not a small number. "Experts estimate it costs upwards of twice a...

There are a number of employee / employer relationship types.  Adversarial - "I am exerting my power over you."  Transactional - "You do this for me. I pay you something in return." Trust-based and collaborative- "I like you and I trust you. Let's work together to build something meaningful. " I remember when I left a big Firm to go to a smaller company, I asked for equity.  After all, I'd established a reputation in the business and inflated my ego -- I deserved a percentage of the company that I was joining.  "Ah the naivete." Instead, the counteroffer was an hourly wage. I might as well been the union worker in the tire plant that I worked for right out of college, except that I had no union representative to help me file a grievance.  The hourly wage is what defines the mechanical turk.  (Read anything Seth Godin to fully appreciate what this means.) Don't sell yourself short and accept that you are a cog in you...

What do you do when your boss, executive, or leader recommends a book for you to read?  You go out and read the book, right?  After all, you think that the reason that your leader is recommending this book is because he or she is thinking about you . Your boss thinks that there are nuggets of wisdom or insight that you could get out of it. That's not true. In the world of business, the majority of people in management are more selfish than not.  If your boss recommends a book, more than likely it's because he or she got something out of it-- not necessarily because he / she thinks you will get something out of it. If you want to know what type of person you are working for, the recommendation of a WTF?! book should tell you all you need to know. I've had my share recommended to me by my managers / bosses at one time or another. Here are a couple of business books that are on my WTF?! list: Throwing the Elephant - I had to read this book as part of a...

On occasion, my son (3.5 years old) will want me to read Tiger Woods, How I Play Golf.  I n one of the chapters, Tiger says, "Practice makes permanent."  In the book Talent is Overrated , Colvin brings up the concept of "deliberate practice."  "...deliberate practice requires that one identify certain sharply defined elements of performance that need to be improved, and then work intently on them." For example, if you want to rock a case interview, you will practice many case interviews in an environment that reflects an actual case interview.  I didn't do that and I've failed a case interview or two or three-- rather miserably. It's the opposite of Allen Iverson's philosophy about practice .  In a previous post, I wrote about whether the shine of working at a big consulting firm can wear off. My opinion is that the shine may wear off, but the skills never go away.  The big BUT is that your marketable skills can go into hiber...

Before you can be real with someone, that person has to accept that there is an alternative reality.  Before you can mentor or coach someone, that person has to accept what being mentored or coached really means. There are enough people in the world providing unwanted advice. I'll take full credit for being one of them. Before you open the kimono to someone, make sure that the person you are talking to is in the same world that you live in.  As a leader, coach, or mentor, don't make a mistake and hit him or her with a full " Megaforce Blaster."  Not everyone is ready for that kind of realness.

If you are like many Type A individuals, promotion and title represents your status in the world. You are racing to make CXO, Partner, Director, or VP to either keep up with or outpace your peers. Titles are the easiest way to compare yourself to others. And with LinkedIn, you are fully aware of how far ahead or (behind) you are. Let's be honest. "Sr. Manager" sounds better than "Consultant" any day of the week. (Consultant only sounds goods if you have "Author" and "Entrepreneur" after it.) If you are in your late 30's to mid 40's, and you are a Consultant, companies are going to think that you stayed in the same place in your career -- speaking in generalities of course.  The thing about titles is that your status is within the perception of the person reading your resume or looking at your profile.  In consulting, there are traditional titles that the entire world is aware of. And because industry is now filled with...

When you leave a big professional services firm and go to a smaller, less recognized organization - does your brand value diminish?  Is there a perception in the marketplace that your skill set has deteriorated over time?  Since I grew up in the Michael Jordan era, it's like saying that Michael Jordan's basketball skills worsened when he took some time to play baseball. What we know is that Michael Jordan went on to win 3 more World Championships. For him, the shine didn't wear off. He had to work off the rust, but one would argue he became better and it may be because his hiatus playing baseball inspired him to realize his full potential as a basketball player.  In the world of business, I think the same theory about a person's skill set holds true. It's not like because I haven't done logical structuring in a year it means that I forgot how to structure a presentation.  But I also think that companies would rather hire the person that hasn't ta...

"I'll figure out how to solve your problem."  "I'll figure out how to fill the need that you have."  "I have a guy ,  or may know a guy"  These are the thoughts that automatically go through a consultant's head no matter what comes out of a client's mouth.  When you are at a big firm, these thoughts are generally valid because of breadth, scale, and talent. Although if a client is looking for a subject matter expert on carbon black sourcing in Brazil, that may be a bit of a stretch.  When you are part of a small firm, you start to get a little creative by trying to make the problem fit what you have on your utility belt.  If your client needs a Phillips screwdriver, by God you are going to paint the hammer you have to look like a Phillips screwdriver!  There are a lot of consultants out there that believe that they can solve any client's problem. And believe me, there are a lot of them that will definitely fi...

The Heisman Trophy Every basketball team is looking for the next Michael Jordan or Lebron James.  Every company or professional services firm is looking for that really talented individual to make their organization better. When these people come along, you might be doing them a favor by not asking them to join your team.  In other words, give them The Heisman.  I would say when talented people come across your doorstep, take a hard look at whether your organization is ready for these individuals.  The reason is that if your organization cannot meet the expectations of these individuals, they will not stick around to help you get to where you need to be.  As a leader of an organization, you have a few choices on how to handle talented people if you are real about what your company really is: Surround them with people of similar talent, if not more. Michael Jordan didn't reach his full potential without a supporting cast and a great coach in Ph...

I think there are a lot of people out there that are trying to find meaning in their work.  Does that status report and workplan you are spending time on really matter?  Is the client that is getting on your last nerve really going to appreciate what you've done to make his or her life easier?  In a large corporation, does what you do make an impact on the bottom line? Or are you absorbed in a line item within the company's operational expense column? The motivational person would say to you, "Your job is what you make of it." Tony Robbins would say, "See the work for what it is and not worse than it is." (Something like that.) Your best friend would say, "You need to get the f*ck out of what you are doing." And the reason your friend would say that is because you've described your job to him or her as the worst thing ever.  I would tell you that the reason you are doing sh*tty work is because you feel that there is a gap in w...

Collaboration is an interesting word.  When I think collaboration, I think of two artists in the same room building something together.  Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney Ryan Lewis and Macklemore Timbaland and Justin Timberlake Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake The same should hold true in business, no?  The thing in business is that individual agendas  and objectives turn into invisible walls and fiefdoms.  Business functions throw requirements over the wall to IT Customers tell businesses what they want through focus groups IT project managers throw dates and activities over to application developers  Collaboration is teams working toward a common purpose or goal. The larger the organization, the more disparate goals and purpose seem to be. Why make it more complicated than it needs to be?  Good collaboration results in a great things. Bad collaboration results in things that are ordinary, if not mediocre.